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Norfolk, Va Government Trying to Steal A 70 Year Old Business By Misusing Eminent Domain

Federal, state and local governments are buying up land to take businesses and homes from one business or resident to give it to another. NY, and Long Island in particular, are among the worst. Long Island is deep in debt but still the government is buying up land to further their ICLEI agenda or to generously reward certain developers – look it up.

Long Island’s Mark Lesko, the Brookhaven Town Supervisor, said he would take land he believed is run down and give it to developers of his own choosing. The definition for “rundown” in Brookhaven is broad and easy to apply.

The insidious practice is happening in other parts of the country.

In Norfolk,Virginia Bob Wilson has been making radio parts for the the federal government for 50 years. It is a 70 year old business. Bob Wilson said, “I love my job. I love my business.”

The local Norfolk, Va. government wants to rob him of his factory and property to use it for eminent domain. Not for public use as eminent domain was intended but for “retail space.”

The government is trying to force Bob Wilson to take his protest banner off his building, an intrusion of his first amendment rights.

If this isn’t immoral, grand theft and an intrusion on his personal freedoms, I don’t know what is.

A ballot measure, The Virginia Eminent Domain Amendment,” is being supported by Mr. Wilson and it will prohibit the state from seizing property for private enterprise. This type of measure has been struck down by a Supreme Court gone wild in the past, let’s hope this one sticks because we all must know it’s wrong.

“You shouldn’t be able to take land from one business and give it to another,” said Wilson. “That’s not fair.”

Virginia is claiming they need economic development. Wilson disagrees, “We don’t need economic development. We have a hundred employees here that are getting paid good wages. They pay taxes in Norfolk. They are part of the community.”

But Jim Campbell, who heads The Virginia Association of Counties, calls the amendment proposal “too broad” and says it will hurt community planning across the state.

“All this means (is) there’s going to be higher costs for acquiring land,” said Campbell, whose group opposes the measure.

Good, maybe they’ll think first before they steal land for the businesses they want. We can’t afford these government expenditures when they are using it for payoffs to favored land developers or favored causes.